On Jerusalem, Donald Trump ended a quarter century of lies

President Trump has announced he will break with decades of U.S. foreign policy and move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The move has already stirred up a polarized response.
USA TODAY

Recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has long been a bipartisan policy goal.

President Trump and Vice President Pence on Dec. 6, 2017.(Photo: Evan Vucci, AP)

President Trump’s announcement that he will recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has ignited a firestorm of protest. What’s disingenuous about the histrionic response is the capital’s move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is a longstanding goal of U.S. policy that once had bipartisan support.

The difference now, whether one loves or hates Trump, is that people across the political spectrum are going berserk because he is moving to fulfill his campaign promise on this issue after the three previous presidents lied about it to win office. As Trump moves forward to expand a travel ban and chip away at Obamacare’s individual mandate, an awkward reality is beginning to emerge that a president many voters view as untrustworthy might actually be the most reliable when it comes to following through on his word.

That Trump is only doing what four presidents in a row said they would do regarding Jerusalem hasn’t diminished the controversy. Turkey’s dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the move amounted to a “red line” that could not be crossed, warned that Ankara may cut off diplomatic relations with Israel and called for a summit of Islamic nations to fight against it.

There are legitimate reasons Jerusalem is one of the most fought over scraps of land anywhere. It is the focal point of conflict between Muslims and Jews in the Middle East, and the location of Israel’s capital represents a battle in the larger war over the right of Israel to exist and the concept of a Jewish state.

The late rebel leader Yasser Arafat vowed, “The victory march will continue until the Palestinian flag flies in Jerusalem and in all of Palestine,” and the crowd at his rallies would chant, “All of Jerusalem is Arab; the entire land is Arab.”

Donald Trump was elected on a confrontational, populist platform that doesn’t fit easily into the two-party system, which operates within the comfortable confines of the status quo. Recognizing Jerusalem is consistent with this president’s agenda to be a purposeful disrupter of the stale, hypocritical status quo that brought him to power.